CLR James on Sonny Ramadhin (1929-2022) race & class in cricket
The West Indian spin bowler Sonny Ramadhin has died at 92. He was the last surviving member of the West Indies cricket team who beat England three matches to one in 1950, their first series victory against them. He continued to take wickets against England in Tests, home and away throughout the 1950s. He played his last Test against Australia in December 1960. He took 158 Test wickets at an average of 28.98.
The 1950 victory was celebrated with a famous calypso song.
After the end of his Test career he settled in north-west England and played for Lancashire 1964-5 and Lincolnshire 1968-72 but mainly in the Lancashire Leagues.
In Beyond a Boundary CLR James mentions Ramadhin, both his Test career and his League experience.
Ramadhin played for the West Indies in the period when the team always had a white captain, despite a long running campaign to appoint Frank Worrell to the role. CLR James played a leading role in the campaign and argued that the failure to act had led to players losing confidence with West Indian cricket.
James wrote that Ramadhin’s brief move from League cricket to County Cricket was aimed at giving him the financial security and status that the West Indies had never been able to give him.
A reminder that beyond a boundary matters of race and class had played a significant role in a leading players career.
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